Last checked at 17 Sep 2008 09:29
AIM: EMED 17 September 2008
UPDATE ON GOLD EXPLORATION IN SLOVAKIA
EMED Mining Public Limited ("EMED Mining" or "the Company") is pleased to announce an update on its gold exploration program in Slovakia.
Highlights
Two drill rigs have been pattern diamond drilling the Biely Vrch deposit. Assay results from the first 20 drillholes, including the first three infill holes of 2008, broadly confirming the Company's previousestimate of the size and grade of the deposit.
A further 10-12 holes are planned to be drilled at Biely Vrch by the end of 2008, six of which have already been drilled with assays awaited.
Drilling is in progress to test for northern extensions to the Slatinske Lazy porphyry gold deposit.
Exploration is progressing at other promising prospects within the Company's large (1,107km2), 100%-owned licences in central Slovakia.
An active community partnering program is being undertaken in parallel with this active exploration program.
Harry Anagnostaras-Adams, Managing Director of EMED Mining, commented:
"Our substantial 2008 exploration program in central Slovakia continues to progress well. The substantial diamond drilling program for 2008 will advance Biely Vrch towards an initial resource to JORC standards as well as progressing exploration of other porphyry gold and other metal prospects within our large, 100% owned licences.
"Exploration of this previously unrecognised porphyry gold district is at a very exciting stage as we define the Biely Vrch deposit and drill other prospects.
"We appreciate the welcome given by the local community and look forward to continuing the proud mining heritage of this historical and well-endowed district."
Drilling at Biely Vrch Deposit
The Company intends to continue infill drilling the Biely Vrch deposit with the objective of defining an initial Mineral Resource in accordance with the JORC Code.
In late 2006, EMED Mining discovered the Biely Vrch porphyry gold deposit in central Slovakia. Drilling to date has defined a zone of mineralisation containing approximately 50 million tonnes with a grade range of 0.2g/t to 1.9g/t gold (typically 0.8g/t to1.1g/t gold), containing approximately 1.2 million ounces of gold based on preliminary estimations. Initial metallurgical testwork of Biely Vrch drill core samples indicates the gold mineralisation is not metallurgically complex.
Further drilling is being undertaken during 2008 in order to better define the shape and grade of known mineralisation at Biely Vrch to a depth of 300m below surface. This program is designed to collect the necessary data for an initial Mineral Resource estimate that is compliant with the JORC Code.
Currently pattern diamond drilling is on three lines spaced 100m apart across the Biely Vrch deposit. Assays have been received for 20 drillholes to date at this deposit. Assays are awaited from a further six completed drillholes. The Company plans to drill another 4-6 drillholes this year.
The assay results from the first 19 holes, including the first three infill holes of 2008, broadly supportthe Company's estimate of the size and grade of the Biely Vrch deposit. As previously reported, drillhole DVE27 on Line 79,800N intercepted 460m averaging 1.1g/t gold from surface to the bottom of the hole. Drillholes DVE 28 and DVE30 on Line 79,900N both also intercepted gold over their entire length, assaying 252m at 0.35g/t gold and 293m at 0.46g/t gold, respectively.
The current drilling program is planned to be completed by November 2008.
Exploring Regional Prospects
EMED Mining has discovered a gold district containing a large number of previously unrecognised mineralised prospects. So far, in addition to discovering Biely Vrch, EMED Mining discovered porphyry gold deposits at the Kralova Prospect in November 2007 and at the Slatinske Lazy Prospect in January 2008.
Slatinske Lazy is located 7.5km southwest of the Biely Vrch discovery. Gold mineralisation at Slatinske Lazy is hosted within a quartz-vein stockwork in a potassic-altered andesite porphyry - a similar suite of rocks to Biely Vrch.
As previously reported, the first five drill holes at Slatinske Lazy all returned strongly anomalous gold over their entire length of approximately 250m each, with the strongest gold mineralisation in the two most northern holes (SLE4 & SLE5). Results from recently completed soil geochemistry show a strong anomaly continuing 150m further to the north.
Additional drilling is in progress to test for further mineralisation in this northern portion of the Slatinske Lazy Prospect.
During 2008, EMED Mining has investigated further promising prospects within the Company's large (1,107km2), 100%-owned licences in central Slovakia.
The Stozok Prospect is located approximately 3km east of the Slatinske Lazy Prospect and on the edge of a gravity anomaly similar to that at Biely Vrch. Historical drilling by the Slovakian government intersected weak gold porphyry mineralisation at Stozok. Three drill holes are planned to test the Stozok Prospect.
The Sementlov and Zlatno Prospects are located approximately 40km to the west in the southern portion of the Hodrusa tenement. Historical exploration and recent fieldwork by EMED Mining indicate that both of these prospects have excellent potential for large copper-gold porphyry deposits. Further work is in progress to define drill targets at Sementlov and Zlatno.
Background on Porphyry Gold Deposits
The recognition of Biely Vrch as a porphyry gold deposit has provided valuable insights which assist EMED Mining's plans for exploration of its Slovakian licences.
Porphyry gold deposits differ to the more common porphyry copper-gold deposits, and typically:
are low-grade (0.7g/t to 1.8g/t gold), multi-million ounce deposits;
are large (>100 million tonnes), bulk-mineable deposits;
are metallurgically simple and gold is recoverable via conventional heap leaching;
occur in clusters of several similar deposits; and
contain very minor amounts of copper and molybdenum.
Social Licence
A core value of EMED Mining is to invest in a socially and environmentally responsible manner, with a view to creating enormous social benefits via collaborative partnerships. A matter of equal importance to the assessment of the technical merits of our projects in Slovakia is the degree of social licence gained.
EMED Mining personnel have built-up outstanding relationships with the Slovak government, local communities, business chambers, scientific societies and other stakeholders that are based on integrity, transparency and progress. These stakeholders have been very supportive of the responsible development of metal production operations in Slovakia.
EMED Mining carries out an open dialogue with stakeholders to ensure that its exploration and potentially its mining and metal production activities are undertaken in appropriate locations and in an appropriate manner.
As part of our community relations process, the Company will organise a Clean Up the World day on 20 September 2008 in association with the Municipality of Detva, the Faculty of Environmental Sciences at the Zvolen Technical University and the communities of Klokoc, Ocova, Slatinske Lazy and Stozok. Volunteers will clean-up the old town of Detva and the amphitheatre area, where the most popular folklore festival in Slovakia takes place in July every year. EMED Slovakia participated actively at the festival last July.
At the recent AGM of the Slovak Mining Chamber, Dr Demetrios Constantinides, EMED Slovakia's Managing Director, was appointed a member of the committee for community and public relations. This provides an example of EMED Mining's progressive philosophy and practices which are being widely acknowledged.
EMED is also benefiting from the Slovak governments supportive mining policies. Unlike some of its neighbours, Slovakia supports gold and other metal production which is developed and operated in accordance with international standards and practices.
Enquiries
| EMED Mining | Fox-Davies Capital | RFC Corporate Finance | Bishopsgate Communications |
| Harry Anagnostaras-Adams | Richard Hail | Stuart Laing | Nick Rome |
| +357 9945 7843 | +44 (0)207 936 5230 | +618 9480 2500 | +44 (0)207 562 3350 |
| GMP Securities Europe | Lewis Charles Securities | ||
| James Hannon | Kealan Doyle | ||
| +44 (0) 20 7647 2803 | +44 (0) 20 7456 9111 | ||
| www.emed-mining.com | |||
| www.emed.tv |
Competent Person
References in this announcement regarding exploration results and potential have been approved for release by Mr Ron Cunneen, B.Sc. (Honours). Mr Cunneen is Head of Exploration for EMED Mining and has more than 20 years' relevant experience in the field of activity concerned. He is a member of The Australian Institute of Geoscientists ("AIG") and has consented to the inclusion of the material in the form and context in which it appears.
Sampling and Assaying Procedures
All drilling on the Biely Vrch Prospects has been done with PQ (85.0mm diameter), HQ (63.5mm diameter) and NQ (47.6mm diameter) size core samples. Core recovery has averaged 95% throughout the mineralised zones. All core has been logged and separated into 1.0m lengths. PQ size core has been quartered, while HQ and NQ sized core have then been cut in half by a diamond saw. The split core has then been sent for assay.
Sample preparation has been done by ALS - Chemex in Romania and assayed for gold by 30gm fire assay (method Au-AA25). Both standards and blanks have been used in the sample batches sent by EMED to ALS - Chemex in line with EMED company quality control procedures.
Notes to Editors: About EMED Mining Public Limited
EMED Mining was admitted to trading on AIM in May 2005 following a placing of its shares and its share market capitalisation has since grown from approximately £4 million to approximately £38 million. The Company is based in Cyprus and has a strong commitment to responsible development of metal production operations in Europe, with an initial focus on copper and gold.
The Group's region of interest are the tectonic belts spanning across Europe and over to the Middle East. The strategy is to evaluate exploration and development opportunities in several jurisdictions throughout this quality mineral belt and to promote sustainable development practices through implementation of European Union and other leading-edge international standards. The Company strictly implements its Environmental & Community Policy which includes:
Integrating environmental management into our business, planning and reporting processes.
Promoting a strong environmental ethic throughout the company and the community.
Complying with, as a minimum, all applicable local and European Union laws and regulations.
Communicating with community stakeholders in a responsible and transparent manner.
EMED Mining has now established a strong position in the following selected zones:
Exploration areas in Slovakia are centred on a cluster of volcanic centres. Low-detection geochemical methods are being applied to these areas for the first time together with open pit bulk mining concepts. The principal targeted mineralisation style is low-grade, bulk-mineable porphyry gold. The company has announced gold discoveries at Biely Vrch, Kralova and Slatinske Lazy in Slovakia.
The mines in Cyprus and at Rio Tinto in Spain, located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, which is probably among the best known in the world for its mineral endowment. EMED Mining's goal is to restart copper production at its projects in both of these well-endowed, historical mining districts. Both Spain and Cyprus are progressive members of the European Union and EMED Mining has been made to feel welcome in both host countries. The styles of mineral deposits and production techniques are similar in both mining districts.
Exploration areas in Turkey were vended into 32%-owned KEFI Minerals Plc which was admitted to AIM in December 2006. KEFI Minerals owns carefully selected licence areas in Turkey, as well as an extensive proprietary database of regional and specific exploration data providing a pipeline of further projects to evaluate. See www.kefi-minerals.com.
For further information on the Company's activities, visit www.emed-mining.com or www.emed.tv.
Drilling Assays from Biely Vrch
| Hole Number | Northing | RL | Dip | Azimuth | Depth | From | To | Length | Au | |
| Easting | (m) | (m) | (m) | (m) | (g/t) | |||||
| DVE1 | 380,039 | 5,379,851 | 420 | 60 | 95 | 108.2 | 0.0 | 108.2 | 108.2 | 1.26 |
| DVE2 | 380,007 | 5,379,617 | 429 | 60 | 95 | 102.8 | 0.0 | 102.8 | 102.8 | 0.16 |
| DVE3 | 380,036 | 5,379,798 | 434 | 60 | 99 | 220.0 | 0.0 | 220.0 | 220.0 | 0.49 |
| DVE4 | 380,136 | 5,379,828 | 423 | 60 | 272 | 252.0 | 0.0 | 252.0 | 252.0 | 1.21 |
| DVE5 | 380,297 | 5,379,877 | 405 | 55 | 275 | 559.0 | 228.0 | 559.0 | 331.0 | 1.05 |
| DVE7 | 379,886 | 5,379,847 | 404 | 70 | 279 | 568.0 | 0.0 | 59.0 | 59.0 | 0.21 |
| DVE8 | 380,013 | 5,379,856 | 420 | 70 | 275 | 262.5 | 0.0 | 154.0 | 154.0 | 1.34 |
| DVE9 | 380,154 | 5,379,944 | 401 | 50 | 275 | 350.0 | 62.0 | 103.0 | 41.0 | 0.68 |
| DVE10 | 379,942 | 5,379,698 | 431 | 70 | 275 | 368.3 | 25.0 | 33.0 | 9.0 | 0.83 |
| DVE11 | 379,942 | 5,379,703 | 429 | 60 | 98 | 400.4 | 0.0 | 400.4 | 400.4 | 1.25 |
| DVE12 | 380,047 | 5,379,694 | 451 | 60 | 93 | 400.0 | 0.0 | 400.0 | 400.0 | 0.55 |
| DVE13 | 380,247 | 5,379,945 | 404 | 60 | 278 | 400.0 | 206.0 | 400.0 | 196.0 | 0.50 |
| DVE14 | 380,103 | 5,379,792 | 426 | 60 | 99 | 300.0 | 0.0 | 213.0 | 213.0 | 0.67 |
| DVE15 | 380,031 | 5,379,947 | 401 | 60 | 278 | 300.2 | 42.0 | 94.0 | 52.0 | 0.51 |
| DVE16 | 379,935 | 5,379,587 | 407 | 60 | 92 | 272.5 | 0.0 | 272.5 | 272.5 | 0.10 |
| DVE17 | 380,059 | 5,379,598 | 431 | 60 | 90 | 406.0 | 372.0 | 400.0 | 28.0 | 0.54 |
| DVE27 | 380,092 | 5,379,803 | 433 | 60 | 270 | 460.0 | 0.0 | 460.0 | 460.0 | 1.14 |
| DVE28 | 380,057 | 5,379,905 | 409 | 60 | 270 | 252.3 | 0.0 | 252.3 | 252.3 | 0.35 |
| DVE29 | 380,051 | 5,379,801 | 435 | 60 | 90 | Abandoned |
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| DVE30 | 380,058 | 5,379,905 | 410 | 60 | 90 | 293.2 | 0.0 | 293.2 | 293.2 | 0.46 |
| DVE31 | 380,005 | 5,379,796 | 431 | 60 | 90 | Assays | Pending |
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| DVE32 | 379,958 | 5,379,906 | 404 | 60 | 90 | Assays | Pending |
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| DVE33 | 379,902 | 5,379,809 | 412 | 60 | 90 | Abandoned |
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| DVE 34 | 380,160 | 5,379,906 | 403 | 60 | 90 | Assays | Pending |
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| DVE 35 |
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| 60 | 90 | Assays | Pending |
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| DVE36 | 380,157 | 5,379,905 | 403 | 60 | 270 | Assays | Pending |
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| DVE 37 |
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| Assays | Pending |
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Note: Drillholes DVE18 to DVE26 are not included in the above as they are located to the east and southeast of the known Biely Vrch deposit.
-Ends-
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6230D_-2008-9-17.pdf